Long-ago sermon reborn as kids’ book

If the book doesn’t interest you, Walter Huffman told me, perhaps the story behind it will.

With Valentine’s Day two days away, I’ll tell you about both.

Huffman, 81, is a retired minister who served as a professor and dean of chapel at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Bexley for many years. But 50 years ago, Huffman was the pastor of a church in Richmond, Virginia.

A staple of church services is the children’s sermon, in which the minister calls the kids together for a brief message. Huffman disliked the overly simplistic messages. He put a lot of effort into crafting stories that would reach adults, too.

“You gotta be a storyteller, or you lose people,” he said.

One February Sunday, he made up a story about a Valentine’s Day that got out of control — in a good way. The kids were entranced, and this encouraged Huffman to turn the story into a booklet with illustrations, which he handed out to people.

His son, Kurt, was too young to remember the sermon when it was delivered. But a few years ago he was rummaging through his parents’ basement in Canal Winchester when he ran across one of the booklets.

“And I started reading through this old, kind of stained thing, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s quite a story.’ I kind of snuck it out of the house.”

Kurt contacted Christian Faith Publishing in Meadville, Pennsylvania, which liked the story, and the result is a children’s book called "The Man Who Stretched Valentine’s Day."

It’s about how a misaddressed anonymous Valentine’s card prompts a lonely old man to send Valentine’s cards to everyone he had ever met. His effort sparks an outbreak of

good will that transforms society.

Walter calls it "the power of — even accidental — love."

His son says it's a message a fractious nation could use about now.

Kurt, who preferred not to say where he lives, asked me not to dwell on his efforts. He wants the focus to be on his father.

And so I’ll tell you that Walter was moved by what his son did. He and his wife, Carol, raised Kurt and his sister, Kristin, to value stories and poetry. Although Walter has written books in his discipline (church worship spaces), "The Man Who Stretched Valentine's Day" has sparked his interest in doing more children's books.

"I feel like if I’m gonna stay alive, it’s because I’m doing something productive," he said.

I like this story because the valentines come in many forms: cards, a book and a son's appreciation.